Welcome to the Nightside, an alternate London where it's always 3 a.m. and the living isn't easy. You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant -- if you're willing to pay the price. Think about that -- in Nightside, ambulances are fueled by pain and suffering, and taxis run on virgin's blood.

John Taylor is the premier private eye in the Nightside. Just recently, he saved the place from extinction when his mother, Lilith (yes, that Lilith) tried to take over.

Now, the biggest baddest man in the Nightside has hired John to find his 17-year-old granddaughter, Melissa. Jeremiah Griffin is immortal and nobody really knows what bargain he made for that. One thing everyone knows is you don't cross the Griffin and live. And John's got less than 24 hours to find Melissa.

This seventh book of the Nightside stories is one of the best so far. Hell to Pay is hard to put down, full of the dark Chandleresque humor that typifies Simon R. Green's work. While I'd recommend anyone start with the beginning of the Nightside series, Hell to Pay is a good introduction -- and trust me, you will want all six books prior to this one.